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She backs out of the room slowly.
Col's eyes shift to mine. "Do you want me to go?"
"What? No. No way. I'm just…struggling with my emotions right now. I need some time."
"Of course. I get it. Take all the time you need because, Wilby, I am not going anywhere."
"You're a fucking dingus," Fitz says, hitting me over the head.
"You really fucking are," Muir cements his agreement with a thwack across my shoulders.
"Ow. That hurt." I glance over at Linus, who's sipping his tea, calmly watching as violence is committed against me.
"As the only responsible adult in the room, can you please do something?" I call out to him.
He whispers something into Ryde's ear, and Ryde lets out a tiny giggle as he gets up, walks over to me, and tweaks my nipple through my shirt. "That's for calling Linus an adult."
"Oh my god." I wrangle myself away from my lunatic colleagues. "We really need an HR department around here."
Linus stops dunking his Tim Tam. "Mate, if this clinic had an HR department, you'd have been chucked out on your arse a million times by now."
I hate that I have no comeback for that.
I take my meat pie out of the white paper bag and find a spot on the far side of the table, where I can hopefully eat and sulk in safety.
"He came back for you," Fitz says, picking up the convo right where we left it.
Honestly, I was expecting a bit of empathy from the guys when I told them about Col unexpectedly returning yesterday. Guess I was barking up the wrong tree.
Normally I don't do vet work during muster season, but this was a scheduled day off from the muster, and I made up a bullshit excuse to come here basically just to get out of the house, clear my head, and work this out with my friends.
Maybe former friends, depending on how the rest of this discussion goes. It's not off to a flying start.
"If he didn't want to be with you, why would he be here?" Fitz presses.
"Not to mention he said that he loved you," Ryde chips in unhelpfully.
I shoot an unimpressed glare his way. "Think I liked you better when you were quiet."
He laughs and flips me off. Damn. He's progressing faster than I realised. Soon, he'll be on a shit-giving par with the others. Then I'll really be doomed.
"What are youreallyafraid of?" Linus, as usual, cuts straight to the heart of the matter.
I finish chewing and set the remainder of my pie on the table. "That this won't be enough for him. You guys know living out here is tough. It isn't for everyone."
They all nod their agreement.
"He lives in New York. He grew up in LA. They're some of the most exciting and glamorous cities in the world. Scuttlebutt has, what? Monthly karaoke and the world's best meat pies. We only just got McDonalds."
"Actually, there's a petition to get rid of Maccas. Apparently, Mrs. Mangle is furious and is trying to get—" Muir looks aroundthe room. "You know what, that's not really important right now. Back to you, Wilby."
My shoulders slump, and I heave out a bigfeeling sorry for myselfsigh. "Why would Col want to move all the way out here to the middle of nowhere?"
"Ugh, you are such a fucking idiot."
We all snap our heads to Ryde. Wow. His balls are growing bigger by the second.
"Because he loves you," he continues boldly going where no Ryde has ever gone before. "You are one of the weirdest, craziest, most out there people I've ever met. And so is he, in his own different way. We've all seen the way he looks at you. When the two of you are together, there's a buzz in the air. We might not be able to see it, but I can assure you, everyone in your presence can feel it. People are going to be talking about that karaoke night for decades to come. He. Wants. To. Be. With. You. Can't you get that through that thick head of yours?"
